Donna Darbous, former advertising manager at Nintendo, is auctioning off her personal collection, which includes the original promotional artwork for the Donkey Kong arcade game. The auction platform Landry Pop has estimated the value of this artwork at between $100,000 and $150,000.
Darbous said that when Nintendo cleared out storage rooms to make office space, these artworks were thrown into trash bins. She took the envelope containing the drawings home after obtaining permission from her supervisor. She later forgot about them until recently, when she rediscovered them in a box of Nintendo memorabilia while cleaning out her garage.
The artwork was drawn by Leslie Cabarga and consists of a background on cardboard and a transparent sheet similar to an animation cel. The background was created with ink and airbrushing; the transparent sheet features Jumpman, Donkey Kong, Pauline, and barrels drawn in ink and acrylic. VGC described the Jumpman illustration as the character's first public appearance under that name, before he became known as Mario.
Titled "Jumpman: The Beginning of an Icon," the auction lists 49 items, 36 of which come from Darbous's collection. Other items she provided include original art for two Game & Watch handhelds, the original 1985 Nintendo of America Christmas card, production art for Super Mario Bros., employee uniforms and commemorative gifts; the auction also includes some graded NES games.
At the time of the original report, the highest bid for the Donkey Kong artwork was $80,000, still below the lower end of its $100,000 estimate. The auction will continue until October 28.